Just as the progress of a disease shows a doctor the secret life of a body," so too "the progress of a great calamity yields valuable information about the nature of a society.
Historian Marc Bloch

Natural Disasters, States, and Societies in Asia and the Pacific is a key research project of the Centre for the Humanities and Medicine at the University of Hong Kong.

As the Kobe Earthquake (1995), Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004), Sichuan Earthquake (2008) and Cyclone Nargis (2008) have demonstrated in recent times, the Asia Pacific Region is highly prone to catastrophic natural phenomena. Researchers in the CHM Natural Disaster research project share a common goal: to explore how naturaldisasters (earthquakes, tsunami, cyclones, volcanic eruptions) have shaped and continue to influence states, societies, the built and natural environment, communities, and people throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Natural disasters and responses to these events, as our work illustrates, provide windows into the past and present of many communities. Disasters yield unique insights into human nature, cultural and social constructions, and many of the key relationships - between man, nature, the built environment, state, and even the cosmos - that help define human existence.

Our historical projects challenge individuals to engage with the following questions:

• What makes a natural phenomenon such as an earthquake, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, or a cyclone a 'natural disaster'?

• How have pre-modern, early modern, and modern societies interpreted, explained, and constructed natural disasters?

• How have people expressed, represented, and portrayed catastrophic disaster experiences through art, literature, and the media and for what interpretative ends?

• How and why have governing elites attempted to use natural disasters and the reconstruction projects that followed to not only rebuild devastated urban centres and rural areas, but also to reconstruct nations on ideological, political, and economic levels?

Beyond the historical insight gained by studying disasters of the past, our projects also examine how people, societies, and governments have responded to natural disasters in the world today. Our projects explore how governments and ruling elites have attempted to use subsequent reconstruction processes to redevelop landscapes, remake societies, and reorder politics in opportunistic and manipulative fashions.

In doing so, we engage with contemporary issues such as:

• Can societies ccessfully mitigate against disasters through civil defense or other preparedness measures?

• Why do disasters cause greater damage to those most vulnerable in society, including children and minorities?

• What obligation does the international community have in assisting states or regions deal with mega catastrophes?

• What limitations must the international community recognize in dealing with disasters in a world still dominated by nation states?

• How and why do bureaucratic rivalries, conflicting economic, political, and ideological interests often shape and limit public policy outcomes following disasters?

Forthcoming Activities:
The CHM Natural Disasters research project is currently planning an international conference for 2012. For enquires please contact Dr Charles Schencking.